In a continuing trend, the demand for excellence in education will always out-strip available funds and inevitably result in conflicts regarding priorities for many California schools. The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is no exception to that rule.
While the district is expected to have its budget for the year 2001-2002 ready by June 30, the picture is already clear–it won’t have enough to cover every school’s needs or desires.
While local youth supporters and organizations hope to see various programs implemented and funded by the budget, the money is primarily spent on salaries and benefits with not much left for anything else.
“The issue of the deficit is, the kind of programs that people wish the schools would offer, there is not enough to fund them all,” said Art Cohen, assistant superintendent in the areas of fiscal and business affairs.
“It’s a deficit in need,” he emphasized.
However, the board cannot adopt a budget with a deficit and if revenues fall short, the school board has to reduce expenditures, explained Cohen.
To try and analyze the annual budgetary deficits in more detail, and find possible solutions, as well as address concerns about continual deficits, a financial oversight committee was formed about a year ago.
“Those concerned wanted greater assurance that there were no fiscal or financial improprieties,” said Walter Rosenthal, who serves on the committee.
He emphasized that, in actuality, there are no problems concerning fiscal integrity, the problems lie elsewhere.
“We are required by law to show a balanced budget, but this is a difficult task given that 87 percent of our money goes for salaries and benefits,” he said.
Adding further encumbrance to the budget, district teachers will be given an undetermined pay increase, which will become effective in early 2002, and “that will in all likelihood put us back into a position of deficit,” said Rosenthal, who supports the pay increase, but also realizes the additional strain on the budget.
Where the money comes from
Fiscally, state funds are not all bundled up under one umbrella. There are various kinds of state funds that come into the school district, said Cohen.
For general operating funds, the district will receive approximately $55 million to $60 million. Additionally, the district also receives local funds equaling about $8.7 million from parcel taxes and city contributions.
The board has the discretion to spend general fund money where it deems necessary, but these funds do have to include teachers’ salaries.
The City of Santa Monica will contribute $3 million to this year’s budget. To date, the city of Malibu has not provided any direct grants for the upcoming budget, but it did give $150,000 for the current year.
“Malibu has not committed any general fund grant funding, but we have other programs that impact the youth of the city,” said Katie Lichtig, acting city manager for Malibu.” For example, the city shares in the upkeep of fields, she said.
The district also receives significant monies from leasing unused properties, said Cohen, which amounts to approximately $1.5 million a year.
Some programs, such as the Child Development Program, currently under consideration for privatization, do not operate with general funds. “It’s a self-supporting program, meaning it has to survive on the fees it charges and the state support it gets,” said Cohen. The Food Program also functions that way.
Answering community concerns
“I believe, as an oversight member, there is an awful lot of paranoia from the community concerning the fiscal integrity of the school district,” said Rosenthal.
Rosenthal said the concern is not appropriate because the individuals who are criticizing the district for being fiscally unsound do not understand that 87 percent of the budget goes to salaries and benefits. Little is left for programs.
Our community ought to stop looking for an easy answer to a difficult problem.
“The primary problem is that we get half of the money some other schools in other states get for each child,” he said.